Harry Reid, attempting to whip enough votes to pass the health-care legislation currently being debated in the Senate, will receive some help from the executive branch as President Obama stops by Capitol Hill tomorrow afternoon to attend a rare Sunday meeting of the Senate Democratic caucus. A White House official has confirmed to Politico that the President will be in attendance at the meeting, which was called by Majority Leader Harry Reid.

Senator Max Baucus was in a romantic relationship with a woman he nominated for U.S. attorney, his spokesman announced late Friday. They began the relationship in the summer of 2008 and she later withdrew her name from consideration for the post. Baucus was separated from his wife when he began his affair with his state director Melodee Hanes, reports Politico. The senator is leading negotiations over the  health-care bill as the chair of the powerful Finance Committee. Baucus' office maintains that Hanes was nominated because of her qualifications; RNC Chair Michael Steele is calling for an ethics investigation.

In a startling admission, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the U.S. has not had any intelligence on Osama bin Laden's whereabouts in "years" on ABC's This Week. Gates could not confirm reports that a detainee in Pakistan claimed he had seen the al Qaeda leader in Afghanistan earlier this year.

As White House social secretary Desiree Rogers comes under fire from some lawmakers for her role in the party-crashing scandal that marred the Obama administration's first state dinner, she also received support from the White House, with press secretary Robert Gibbs saying that Rogers "has done a terrific and wonderful job pulling off a lot of big and important events." The revelation that two uninvited guests managed to sneak into last week's state dinner prompted and internal investigation by the Secret Service and hearings in Congress, but Rogers has thus far refused to testify. "I saw her that evening and other evenings and she's always working and top of her job," said Obama supporter and ex-husband of Rogers John Rogers, Jr., in response to criticism that the social secretary had shirked her duties in favor of socializing.

Threats against Barack Obama's life have leveled off after a spike just before his inauguration and another in the first months of his presidency, The New York Times reports in a chilling article that recounts several threat scenarios. In one of many troubling cases, a young Marine, Kody Brittingham, pleaded guilty in August to threatening to kill the president in a chilling plan that was meticulously laid out with maps and photographs. Brittingham wrote that he'd taken an oath to "protect against all enemies, both foreign and domestic," and signed a "letter of intent" in which he identified a "domestic enemy" in President Obama. Now that the threats have slowed, Obama gets about as many as his two predecessors. But there's still enough reason for concern for officials, particularly those concerning the president's race. Homeland Security has expanded its Internet Threat Desk, which investigates online threats, and each month Obama's chief of staff reviews the latest threats with agency head Janet Napolitano.

Maybe they thought they were voting for Bloomberg? Charles Montgomery Burns, the evil billionaire tycoon known as Mr. Burns on The Simpsons, received more write-in votes than any other for New York City mayor. Burns received 27 of the 299 write-in votes casts. He—along with fellow write-in candidates Mickey Mouse, Sleeping Beauty, Bill and Hillary Clinton, and Rudy Giuliani—ultimately lost to incumbent mayor and real-life billionaire Michael Bloomberg.

An openly gay bishop was elected Saturday by the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles, the first since the national church lifted a ban on gays and lesbians from its highest ordained ministry after the 2003 ordination of the Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire. Meeting for their annual convention, clergy and lay leaders selected the Rev. Canon Mary D. Glasspool, who has been in a committed relationship with a woman since 1988. Robinson's election six years ago threw the church into turmoil, as members of the Anglican Communion around the world reacted strongly against the ordination of a gay person. The Episcopal Church sought to limit the rise of gay and lesbian priests for a time, in order to prevent a civil war within the church, but the move did not stem the growing disenchantment of conservatives. Glasspool, along with the Rev. Canon Diane Jardine Bruce, who was selected Friday, also became one of the first two women to be elected of bishops of the diocese in its 114-year history.

Billy Joel’s 23-year-old daughter Alexa Ray Joel is in stable condition at New York’s St. Vincent’s Hospital after a possible drug overdose. Few details are known, but sources say it appears she tried to commit suicide by taking an unknown amount of pills. Alexa Ray, who is said to have recently broken up with her boyfriend, is the daughter of Billy Joel and ex-wife Christie Brinkley, and is also pursuing her own musical career.

Just days before the climate-change talks commence in Copenhagen, the head of a United Nations panel announced its investigation of claims that scientists manipulated global-warming data on Friday. The controversy centers around thousands of emails released from scientists at the University of East Anglia's Climatic Research Unit, in which some have seen allusions to efforts to suppress or manipulate findings. The head of the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change told the BBC that the allegations were serious. Those skeptical of climate-change reports, like some congressional Republicans, have taken the opportunity to accuse researchers of exaggerating global warming. Some Republicans have claimed that President Obama’s efforts in regard to climate change should be revisited in light of the emails. The University of East Anglia announced its own review of the email-related allegations on Thursday. The head of the institution’s unit has stepped aside barring the outcome of the investigation.

A traffic bulletin about chickens roaming a Los Angeles highway last week may prove a local urban legend true: the myth of the highway chickens. It all began when a poultry truck crashed and flipped over in 1969, freeing at least 200 chickens otherwise doomed to slaughter. The chickens became an institution: An actress wrote a screenplay about them, a video game appeared that challenged players to escort the birds across the road, and a local hotel owner put the chickens on her stationary. An elderly widow dubbed "the Chicken Lady" fed and cared for the colony until 1976, when city officials begged her to let them capture the birds. But eight years later, the chickens reappeared. A transportation spokesman said, "we didn't get them all back in '76. I guess they're like rabbits—get all but two and you're still in trouble."

Tiger Woods remains firmly in the rough as TMZ reports that a fourth woman claiming to have had an affair with the pro golfer has hired a lawyer and is preparing to tell her story to the media. The unnamed woman, a former VIP cocktail server, is retaining the services of Orlando lawyer Michael O'Quinn, and claiming that her relationship with Tiger lasted more than two years, and began in 2004, when she was 20. Woods' off-the-green antics have been the subject of intense gossip coverage since this week's revelation that the golfer had carried on at least one affair, after the news broke in the wake of Woods crashing his SUV outside his Florida home.

President Obama will not be the only world leader doubling down on Afghanistan with his new surge strategy. According to The Washington Post, NATO allies have pledged to send 7,000 more troops to bolster American forces under a new strategy to reverse the Taliban's momentum. The new troops come from some 25 countries and NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told the Post that more contributions are expected "during the coming weeks and months." Obama will still have plenty of diplomacy to work on in securing support, however—France and Germany remain openly skeptical of the new plan and Canada and the Netherlands are on track to pull out within two years.

The family of Amanda Knox reacted with rage at the Italian legal system and the court that convicted the 22-year-old American student Friday of murdering her roommate, Meredith Kercher. In an interview with ABC News, Knox's father, Curt Knox, said he was angry that the judge in the case didn't look him in the eye after the verdict was read. "I was just stunned," he said, describing how he stared down the jurors afterward. "I just looked at them; I looked at the jurors," he added. "I went down eye to eye with each one of them and just looked at them and said, 'How could you even do this with what was presented in the court of law?' And for that matter, the judge, he didn't even raise his head while he read the verdict." Amanda's younger sister, Deanna, also complained that the judge "couldn't even look us in the eyes, or look my sister in the eyes." Knox was declared guilty of all six counts she faced, including tampering with a crime scene and theft, and sentenced to 26 years in prison.

After being given the lifetime achievement honor at the Women in Film and Television Awards, Dame Helen Mirren said that sexism still plagues the male-dominated film industry. "My God, it's changed," she said, comparing the present day to her start as an actress, "but it hasn't gone nearly far enough." Mirren, who won an Oscar in 2007 for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth, encouraged more women to join the film industry on both sides of the camera: "I want to see more women behind the camera, because in my experience there are not enough female cinematographers." The actress thanked the female writer and executive producer of her famous show Prime Suspect for changing a "fat little girl" into an adult actress, and joked that "the only reason I've earned this [award] is by being old."

An explosion near a KFC restaurant in Peshawar, Pakistan, has killed at least three people. Despite preliminary statements by information minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain that the blast was the result of a car bomb, investigators have said that they believe the source to have been an accidental explosion inside a shop, where paint was being stored, and that no trace of explosives were found. The explosion comes a day after an attack on a Rawalpindi mosque that left 35 people dead.

For months, millionaire Terrance Watanabe, former head of the party-favor import business Oriental Trading Company, was among the most valuable regulars at Harrah's casino—according to employees, there was even a picture of him hung up in the back rooms—and his yearlong binge earned Harrah's more than $100 million (some 5.6% of its Las Vegas gambling revenue that year). Most of his $127 million tab has been repaid by the philanthropist, but Watanabe is refusing to pay the rest, saying that Harrah's provided him with liquor and painkillers to keep him gambling, and therefore bears some responsibility for his losses. It's illegal for casinos to allow intoxicated customers to gamble, and Watanabe was kicked out of Wynn despite a reputation as a high roller thanks to his heavy drinking; at Harrah's, however, he was welcomed with open arms, and some current and former employees are saying that they were encouraged to keep Watanabe drinking. The former importer opened up to his sister two years ago and entered a treatment facility in 2008. "It was embarrassing for him," his sister says.

President Obama was never a supporter of President Bush's surge in Iraq, but he arrived at a decision with striking similarities in Afghanistan under the advice of Bush's Secretary of Defense and top general. “This is the second surge I’ve been up here defending,” Secretary of Defense Robert Gates told Congress recently. According to The New York Times, Obama conceded to aides the surge in Iraq “turned out to be a good thing," but he and advisers were acutely aware the parallels between the wars were not at all perfect. “We spent a lot of time discussing the fact that the only thing Iraq and Afghanistan have in common is a lot of sand," one strategist involved in the decision told the Times. For example, in Iraq much of the surge's success hinged on a new policy to cooperate with tribal leaders in Anbar to drive out al Qaeda fighters and not on an increase in troops. Iraq's army was also better positioned for rapid training than Afghanistan, which has less experience with traditional standing armies.

Cutest trafficked goods of all time? East Javan authorities arrested an Indonesian man accused of smuggling 10 rare kangaroos off New Guinea island. Five of the kangaroos had died when the suspect was nabbed while unloading his cargo in Surabaya. The small marsupials live in the New Guinea rainforest, and are said to have cost the alleged smuggler two million rupiah, or $212, each. If convicted, the suspect could face a fine of 100 million rupiah, or $11,000, and five years in jail. Fear not for the little creatures: The five surviving kangaroos were given to an animal sanctuary.

Authorities have arrested the owner and manager of Perm's Lame Horse, the nightclub where 103 people perished in last night's fire started by pyrotechnical effects onstage. Investigators said there was no suspicion of a terrorist attack, and that the owner and manager disregarded persistent demands from authorities to comply with safety standards. "They have neither brains, nor conscience," said Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who has advocated harsh punishment for those responsible. Reports by survivors and a video recorded in the nightclub and obtained by the Russian press paint a picture of a horrific stampede inside the building: "There was only one exit, and people started breaking down the doors to get out," said one woman who had been inside. Dozens of clubgoers are in critical condition. Russia's 18,000 fire deaths a year places the country much higher than other Western countries in terms of fire deaths a year per capita.

It took 38 days, 18 defeats, and one fired coach, but the New Jersey Nets finally have won a game, ending an NBA record for the worst beginning to a season of any team in league history. New coach Kiki Vandewegh earned his first win as his players took down the Charlotte Bobcats 97-91. The game was close, but featured stellar performances from several Nets, including Courtney Lee, who finished with 27 points, and young center Brook Lopez, who scored 31 points and pulled down 14 rebounds.

Sarah Palin will have to keep her tweets to herself on Saturday night when the former Alaskan governor speaks at the exclusive Gridiron Club’s winter dinner in Washington. Sen. John McCain’s 2008 vice-presidential candidate will take a break from her Going Rogue book tour to provide one of two of the night’s typically witty guest speeches, while openly gay Massachusetts Representative Barney Frank will give the other. The twice-yearly event, which is strictly off-the-record, brings together members of what Palin might call the “media elite” and elected officials. Some, however, are reportedly skeptical about whether Palin will be among the schmoozers this weekend, because she’s already skipped out on a few major D.C. appearances since the 2008 presidential election.

Former NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw and his wife were in a three-way car accident that killed one woman. The accident happened Friday afternoon on New York's Bruckner Expressway when an SUV driver lost control of her vehicle in the right lane and slammed into a mail truck in the middle lane, according to Brokaw. The SUV driver, an unidentified woman, was thrown from the car and killed, say police. Brokaw, 69, and his wife were driving in the left lane, and were uninjured.

The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation has changed the channel on ABC, calling for the community to protest the network in its third statement regarding the controversy between Adam Lambert and the Disney-owned network, even as The View announced late Friday that Lambert will now be appearing on the show this Thursday. Lambert’s canceled appearances since his too-hot performance at the American Music Awards have caused commotion, resulting in the GLAAD president now explicitly criticizing ABC for its treatment of the American Idol runner-up, deeming it a “double standard.” In the organization’s previous statements, GLAAD suggested that Lambert’s same-sex kiss was not the cause of the cancellation of his subsequent appearances on the network. But Friday afternoon, GLAAD President Jarrett Barrios made it clear that he does believe Lambert being an “openly gay performer” led to his removal from other ABC programs. ABC declined to comment today—until it released a “Late Breaking” media alert to announce that Adam Lambert will appear on The View this Thursday. The episode will air the day after Barbara Walters “includes Lambert as one of the year’s ‘Most Fascinating People.'”

Apple, the ruler of the U.S. musical arena via iTunes, is discussing the purchase of streaming-music service Lala, Bloomberg reports. Unlike on iTunes, Lala users can purchase songs for a small fee, and songs are stored on Internet servers—known as "clouds"—instead of being downloaded to a computer's hard drive. Larry Kenswil, former head of Universal Music Group's digital unit, says Apple is "wise to cover its bases because it's only in the download business." There is a wide debate in the industry about how users should obtain music, and expanding user options could bolster Apple's popularity—even though it is the biggest seller in the U.S. Apple has yet to confirm the deal.